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Couple protests 'insensitive' monument in Orange

Morgan Gstalter| on
December 28, 2017

Jeremy and Tracie Parzen hold protest signs near the Confederate Memorial of the Wind in Orange on Wednesday. The unfinished memorial is being built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans next to Interstate 10. Photo taken Wednesday 12/27/17 Ryan Pelham/The Enterprise less

Jeremy and Tracie Parzen hold protest signs near the Confederate Memorial of the Wind in Orange on Wednesday. The unfinished memorial is being built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans next to Interstate 10. ... more

Photo: Ryan Pelham

Photo: Ryan Pelham

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Jeremy and Tracie Parzen hold protest signs near the Confederate Memorial of the Wind in Orange on Wednesday. The unfinished memorial is being built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans next to Interstate 10. Photo taken Wednesday 12/27/17 Ryan Pelham/The Enterprise less

Jeremy and Tracie Parzen hold protest signs near the Confederate Memorial of the Wind in Orange on Wednesday. The unfinished memorial is being built by the Sons of Confederate Veterans next to Interstate 10. ... more

Photo: Ryan Pelham

Couple protests 'insensitive' monument in Orange

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Despite chilly winter weather days after Christmas, several people on Wednesday protested the Confederate monument in Orange, which has faded from the public spotlight after provoking controversy in years past.

Tracie and Jeremy Parzen, who live in Houston, visited family for the holidays in Tracie's hometown of Orange. They decided now was as good a time as ever to take a stand against what they view as a "hurtful" and "insensitive" monument.

"Some people see the flag and they blow it off," Tracie Parzen, 42, said. "They don't think much of it ... and that comes from a point of privilege. But not everybody in this community has that luxury. Some people see it and it terrifies them. It just doesn't belong here."

The 13-pillar circular stone "Confederate Memorial of the Wind" sits on a patch of private land next to Interstate 10, five miles from the Texas-Louisiana border. It was erected by the Sons of Confederate Veterans- Texas Division in 2013 despite immense pushback from the Orange community. Representatives of the group could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Original plans called for 32 flags for Texas Confederate regiments to fly from the monument, but none was ever erected. According to Enterprise archives, the flag of the Army of the Trans-Missisippi, the last major Confederate command to surrender, flew briefly on the spot in 2016.

No flags were flying in the late December wind on the corner plot of grassy land, which is surrounded by "no parking" signs. The group met at the public crosswalk, holding signs and waving at drivers heading down Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

After the monument was finished, a lot of the public criticism quieted, the Parzens said.

"We're not here illegally and we're not here to be vindictive," said Jeremy Parzen, 50.

The couple was joined by a few members of the Southeast Texas Progressives, a Facebook group of about 700 that leans toward the left end of the political spectrum, said Marsi Patronella, one of the group's three co-founders.

Patronella said she was thrilled when the Parzens reached out about hosting an impromptu protest at the sites.

"Sometimes it's hard for people who believe like we do to speak out because they are afraid to go against the grain or be ostracized," Patronella said.

"You either love us or hate us but we are facilitating conversations," Patronella said. "There's another side of the story."

Most passersby were friendly, offering waves and honks in support. One man even tried to give the protesters money.

Following a deadly protest by white supremacists at the site of a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, local authorities began questioning other Confederate sites across Southeast Texas.

Two Beaumont city council members suggested changing the "Our Confederate Soldiers" monument in Wiess Park. Port Arthur ISD's board of trustees considered changing the names of Robert E. Lee Elementary and Dick Dowling Elementary.

A few weeks later, Tropical Storm Harvey hit Southeast Texas and the subject faded from public discussion.

"It's easy to get distracted and fall into a place of complacency," Tracie Parzen said. "But the end of this year and going into the next is a great reminder to have these conversations. Maybe people will have courage to speak up in the new year."

"I have a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old who come here (to Orange) often," Tracie Parzen said. "One day, they're going to ask me what that is. How do I explain it?"

The family has taken their daughters, Lila, 4, and Georgia, 6, to several protests in the past, including a Black Lives Matter march in Houston.

"Of course I would never put my children in danger," Tracie Parzen said. "But I want them to grow up learning that they have agency in this world, especially as girls."